A magnitude-3 earthquake struck Yen Binh, a district of northern Vietnam’s Yen Bai Province, at noon on Thursday, according to the Institute of Geophysics.

The quake occurred at 11:49 am at a depth of around 12 kilometers, Nguyen Xuan Anh, director of the institute under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Many residents in Yen Binh felt the tremor.

“I was at home when I heard a loud sound, accompanied with strong shakes to the ground and house for about four to five seconds,” Nguyen Truong, residing in Tran Yen District, told Tuoi Tre.

Thanh Hai in the province’s Yen Bai City said he was sitting when a thunder-like sound went off, along with vigorous shakes for some four seconds.

The quake posed no risks of disasters, Anh said, adding that the institute’s Vietnam Earthquake Information and Tsunami Warning Center was monitoring it.

The tremor-hit area is located on the Chay River fault, stated Anh.

Eight days ago, Luc Yen District was rocked by a magnitude-3.5 earthquake, and both locals and other people in neighboring Tuyen Quang and Ha Giang Provinces could feel the tremor.

In Vietnam, earthquakes at magnitudes from 3 to 3.9 are considered minor ones, which can be felt by some people and shake some objects in a house, but rarely cause damage, Anh said. 

Vietnam has so far recorded three detrimental quakes, which occurred in northern Dien Bien Province in 1935, 1983, and 2001 with a magnitude of 6.9, 6.7, and 5.3, respectively, according to official statistics.

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